Berkeley Law Defends UC Researchers in Ninth Circuit

The law firm of Lieff Cabraser and Berkeley Law professors and alumni are engaged in a lawsuit ongoing in both district court and the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. As a result of their work, more than 1,000 grants estimated at more than $700 million across the 10-campus UC system have been restored, and six federal agencies are barred from terminating additional financial awards to UC researchers. 

According to the legal team, their motivation is as simple as something an aspiring law school student might write on their admissions essay: a belief in a fair and ordered society.

“If you’re a lawyer who’s not interested in upholding the rule of law, it’s kind of like a doctor who’s not interested in protecting health. It’s a self-contradiction,” says one team member, quoted in this Berkeley News story. 

With the rule of law under unprecedented pressure, Berkeley Law faculty, students, staff, and alumni are actively standing up for the bedrock principles of justice, democracy, and fairness. Dean Chemerinsky, who has emphasized the school’s public mission-oriented culture during his time as dean, says this work sends a critical message.  

“I believe that our country is experiencing the most significant challenge to the rule of law in its history. As a law school, we have a special obligation to support and fight for the rule of law and for the principles in our Constitution,” he says. “As a dean, I think it important to articulate our values and commitments, to support the work for our faculty and students in upholding the rule of law, and to do what I can to be part of these efforts.”

Some of that work is new, and in direct response to Trump’s election and the fallout from the many of his campaign promises coming to fruition — particularly the vow to begin mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.  You can read the full article on their work here.